Dachis and Tsao – Promoting Affordable Housing Act (Bill 7)
From: Benjamin Dachis and Jennifer Y. Tsao To: Ontario’s Standing Committee on Social Policy Date: December 5, 2016 Re: Promoting Affordable Housing Act (Bill 7) This week, the provincial government will consider the Promoting Affordable Housing Act to promote affordable housing. Municipal politicians might like the plan, but it will be costly for home buyers […]Zachary Spicer – The Dreadful Conditions of Municipal Budgets
From: Zachary Spicer To: City Councils Across Canada Date: November 30, 2016 Re: The Dreadful Conditions of Municipal Budgets In their recent report, Two Sets of Books at City Hall? Grading the Finance Reports of Canada’s Cities, Benjamin Dachis, William B.P. Robson and Jennifer Y. Tsao argue that many of the annual budgets in Canada’s cities […]Two Sets of Books at City Hall? Grading the Financial Reports of Canada’s Cities
Annual budgets in most of Canada’s major cities are a mess – excluding key activities, using inconsistent accounting, burying crucial numbers where only experts can find them, and often voted well after the fiscal year has started, according the 2016 edition of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Municipal Fiscal Accountability report. In “Two Sets of Books […] Trevor Tombe – Five Ways to a Better Diversification Debate in Alberta
From: Trevor Tombe To: Hon. Deron Bilous, Alberta Minister of Economic Development and Trade Date: October 25, 2016 Re: Five Ways to a Better Diversification Debate in Alberta Alberta’s economy has seen better days. To many, the cause is clear: we’re over-reliant on oil and gas. Faced with this broad sentiment, the government is exploring […]Forced Co-operation Recipe for Bad Blood Among Alberta Municipalities: Edmonton Journal Op-Ed
Last May, the provincial government took steps to modernize Alberta’s Municipal Government Act.
One of the major changes was a call for forced inter-municipal cooperation, where arbitration would bind municipalities through shotgun marriages with the goal of squeezing out efficiencies in service production. Forced cooperation of this nature, however, has been shown to be harmful elsewhere in Canada.
The provincial government should instead look towards a more flexible model for enhancing inter-municipal cooperation, such as British Columbia’s regional districts.
Inter-municipal cooperation can be an effective means of providing services while not sacrificing economies of scale and scope. Municipalities may…
Zachary Spicer – Inter-Municipal Cooperation, Not Amalgamation, the Better Way Forward for Canadian Cities
From: Zachary Spicer To: Ministers of Municipal Affairs across Canada Date: October 13, 2016 Re: Inter-Municipal Cooperation, Not Amalgamation, the Better Route to Improve Servicing in Canada’s Cities Over the past 50 years, provincial governments in Canada have looked toward building bigger municipal governments in the face of local servicing challenges. Externalities and inefficiencies are […]Thinking Regionally: How to Improve Service Delivery in Canada’s Cities
For cities across Canada, amalgamation has produced few economies of scale and greatly undermined local autonomy, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Thinking Regionally: How to Improve Service Delivery in Canada’s Cities,” authors Zachary Spicer and Adam Found provide a blueprint for better service delivery in city-regions faced by expanding […] Ben Dachis – How to Deliver on Home Delivery and Canada Post Reform
From: Benjamin Dachis, Associate Director of Research To: Judy Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Date: July 6, 2016 Re: How to Deliver on Home Delivery and Canada Post Reform The threat of a work disruption at Canada Post has set the future of the organization flashing brightly on your radar screen if it wasn’t […]Worse Than It Looks: The True Burden and Risks of Federal Employee Pension Plans
Ottawa’s unfunded liabilities for employee pensions stood at $269 billion at the end of the 2015 fiscal year, far larger than reported, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute study. In “Worse Than It Looks: The True Burden and Risks of Federal Employee Pension Plans,” authors William B.P. Robson and Alexandre Laurin look through the […] Controlling the Public Purse: The Fiscal Accountability of Canada’s Senior Governments, 2016
Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments have cumulatively spent $69 billion more than budgeted over the past 15 years, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Controlling the Public Purse: The Fiscal Accountability of Canada’s Senior Governments,” authors Colin Busby and William B.P. Robson grade the performance of governments in hitting their budget […] Building Better Budgets: Canada’s Cities Should Clean Up their Financial Reporting
No major city in Canada offers a clear and transparent budget presentation, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In “Building Better Budgets: Canada’s Cities Should Clean Up their Financial Reporting,” authors Benjamin Dachis and William B.P. Robson provide report cards to 24 major Canadian cities on the quality of their budgets. Bill Robson on the Exchange: Thoughts on the New Federal Cabinet
Institute President and CEO, Bill Robson, joins his Big Picture co-panelists, ArmineYalnizyan and Goldy Hyder to talk about the new federal cabinet.